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Mexico's government has scoffed at the idea of a truce in the country's drug prohibition war after a newspaper which has seen two of its journalists shot dead pleaded with the drug trafficking organizations to name their terms.

The 2011 Montana legislature will be taking up changes to the Montana Medical Marijuana Act voters passed in 2004. Demonstrators held signs in Missoula, saying "Leave medical marijuana alone' and 'Don't take our medicine from us.' They warn the legislative bill could double fees for patients, limit caregivers' service, charge a $10,000 fee to dispensaries, and set other restrictions.

The Heritage Foundation's Charles Stimson has released a completely bonkers prohibitionist screed on marijuana. Will the think tank retract it?

The Ann Arbor Chronicle is suing the city of Ann Arbor, claiming City Council members violated the state's Open Meetings Act by engaging in "secret discussions" during which they formulated plans for a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. In the lawsuit filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court on Friday, the Chronicle says council members held a closed session meeting on July 19 and broke the law by discussing and possibly giving a directive to the city attorney regarding medical marijuana policy.

In the lead-up to Myanmar's first elections in two decades the flow of drugs from the country has become a flood as drug-producing rebels prepare for a showdown with the junta, experts say. Thailand has seen the amount of illicit drugs seized surge this year and observers say nervousness about a possible military crackdown in Myanmar on armed minorities could be fueling the increase. Thailand-based Saw David Taw of the Ethnic Nationalities Council - a coalition of Myanmar ethnic groups - said there was "a rumour going around that people are preparing for war".

The death toll from an ambush staged against police in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero has risen to eight, with one officer wounded, officials said.

Only those with medical marijuana authorization forms gained entrance to an event billed as the state’s first cannabis farmers market. “These are farmers growing agricultural medicine, so it seemed like a no-brainer,” said Jeremy Miller, organizer and owner of Sacred Plant Medicine. “It’s a place where people can network with other patients in similar situations.”

Michelle Alexander, a longtime civil rights advocate, litigator, and author of 'The New Jim Crow', goes where mainstream journalists fear to tread. She explains how mass incarceration in the United States has emerged as a comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control -- and how those who turn a blind eye to the problem share in the blame.

For the first time, Costa Rica has been named a major transit point for drug trafficking, and the United States ambassador to the country, Ann S. Andrews, is blaming the Mexican drug cartels. Costa Rican officials say they lack the resources to combat drug traffickers, to guard its coastline to keep drug traffickers from using the nation to further their illicit activities.

The drug prohibition violence that's forced about 230,000 Juárez residents to flee their homes is likely to continue for several years, experts said. Edgardo Buscaglia, a global organized crime expert, said Mexico's president does not have the political support in his country to do what is needed to make a lasting change, which is to arrest and prosecute high-level politicians and business owners who protect the drug traffickers. Last year, the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute published a study by Hal Brands, "Mexico's Narco-Insurgency and U.S. Counterdrug Policy," that states "Narcotics-driven corruption is rampant, government control of large swaths of the country is tenuous at best, and predictions that Mexico is on the way to becoming a failed state are frequent."

After several scientific experts have recently put forth their view with regards to decriminalizing drug use, Tim Hollis, a senior UK police official has also joined hands with the scientists and has voiced his opinion about decriminalizing personal use of drugs such as cannabis. In addition, both PM David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg are said to be questioning the effectiveness of Britain’s drug policies.

As organized labor faces declining membership, one of the United States' most storied unions is looking to a new growth industry: marijuana.

Drug prohibition-related police corruption stories abound. Court records indicate a Tulsa woman's drug conviction has been vacated, increasing to 19 the number of people either freed from prison or no longer facing charges because of an ongoing police corruption investigation.

The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland runs Ohio's only legal syringe exchange program. Cleveland first allowed syringe exchanges in 1995, when more than 17 percent of new HIV infections were associated with intravenous drug use. Last year, that number had fallen to 3.4 percent, according to the Cleveland Department of Public Health.

A Mexican newspaper in the heartland of the country's drug prohibition war has asked traffickers for guidance on whether it should publish stories on the conflict. The killing of a 21-year-old photographer last week prompted the newspaper to run a front-page editorial asking: "What do you want from us?"

Tom Flanagan, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a former Conservative campaign manager, opines on why he thinks conservatives should be more consistent, and re-examine their views about an issue that is more important than the long-gun registry – prohibition of mind-altering drugs.